H.S. FIELD HOCKEY: Trojans crave postseason success

Monday

Oct 30, 2017 at 11:25 PMOct 30, 2017 at 11:33 PM

The MIAA unveiled its seedings for the high school field hockey state tournament on Monday. Three area schools that will be vying for a state championship are Bridgewater-Raynham, Oliver Ames and West Bridgewater.

John O'Callaghan The Enterprise JOCallaghan_ENT

BRIDGEWATER – There is no longer a guaranteed game the next day.

The MIAA unveiled its seedings for the high school field hockey state tournament on Monday. Three area schools that will be vying for a state championship are Bridgewater-Raynham, Oliver Ames and West Bridgewater.

The No. 9 Trojans (11-3-2) will host No. 24 Braintree (6-7-5) on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the Division 1 South Sectional tournament. Bridgewater-Raynham has previous experience in the tournament, as it lost to the lower-seeded Franklin in the first round, 1-0, last season.

Trojans head coach Courtney Sergio knows that her squad cannot afford to take the Wamps lightly.

“This year we brought back a lot of key players in key positions,” Sergio said. “I think that our experience in the postseason last year, although it ended in the first round, we were able to gain a lot from that and learn a lot from what it’s like to play a competitive team.

“Although (Braintree is a low seed), they play a strong schedule. ... The seedings don’t always match up to the (capabilities) of the team,” Sergio said. “We learned that the hard way the last two years because we drew a (Hockomock League) team and we lost 1-0 the past two years, so we’re really looking to get that postseason win that we’ve been hoping for.”

With no room for error, Sergio stressed that her team has to be clicking on all cylinders.

“We really bring the heat this week (in practice),” Sergio said. “We’re fine-tuning everything we worked really hard on. It’s not developing those basic skills in the preseason, it’s really making sure we are 90 percent or better at all times when we’re on the field.”

When the Trojans lost Ali Daisy to graduation, they lost a player who put up an impressive stat line of 17 goals and six assists last season. They responded nicely, though, especially with the senior leadership of Peyton Elliot, Katie Swart and Savannah Paige.

“We definitely lost some veterans last year. I always feel lucky with my captains and their leadership and their ability to get the team to do what we want them to do,” Sergio said. “I told them that they have big shoes to fill, and going into the postseason at 11-3-2, I think they did a really great job of filling those shoes.”

Oliver Ames in familiar spot: Different season, same situation for the No. 17 Tigers (9-6-3), who will travel to No. 16 Taunton (10-7-1) in the preliminary round of the Division 1 South Sectional tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Oliver Ames almost pulled off a major upset last season as it gave eventual state champion Walpole a run for its money, losing in heartbreaking fashion, 2-1, in overtime.

To get to the game against Walpole, Oliver Ames had to defeat Durfee in the preliminaries, something that it will have to do this year against Taunton.

“Last year we got good experience playing in the preliminary round as well,” Oliver Ames head coach Abby Tepper said. “Our leaders in (senior captains Sarah Stevens and Sarah Tetrault) have stepped up well.”

Tepper said OA will face a difficult challenge in Taunton, a team that OA has met twice this season and beaten by scores of 3-1 and 2-0.

“We know (Taunton) is a great team. This is the first time they made the tournament in 27 years,” Tepper said. “They’re going to come out fired up and ready to go.”

No. 21 West Bridgewater (9-8-1) will look to upset No. 12 Martha’s Vineyard (11-5-2) on the road in the preliminary round of the Division 2 South Sectional tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m.